Hey all, like the title says, I’m looking for a robotics kit I can use with my young nephew.
I used to teach Lego Mindstorms years ago so that’s kinda the level I’m looking at. Some things I would like for this go round though:
- He’s young enough that I think I want to start with a visual programming language instead of real code. I’ll gauge his interest and move to real code if he seems like he wants to.
- I would like to have the connection for the controller go to a computer as opposed to an app.
- Linux compatible.
- I would like it to build something that moves with something like wheels or treads.
- No AI
Does anyone have any ideas? I’ve seen a lot online and have no idea if they are good brands or not.
Check out: First Robotics
There are programs for elementary to high school aged kids with teams all over the country. There are local, regional, state, and national/international competitions.
Not just country but world now. Their K-8 program is a great entry into STEM as it is both an engineering challenge with the robot game and also the project that comes along with it (usually to design or organize around a certain challenge or theme).
FIRST also does a great job with their core values. They attempt to instill what they call Gracious Professionalism in everything that the program does. Basically, FIRST can be looked at as a program that tries to build good, competent people through the mechanism of a robot competition. In fact, the highest level award in the program is based around the impact that a team has on their community rather than how well a teams robot performs.
I might be a little biased, however, as I’ve been involved with the program (in the high school level competition) for about 17 years now. I know there are other programs out there that offer similar levels of STEM training, but none that build up people in the same fashion.
Interesting, I’ll take a look. Thanks.
I would look into the kits that VEX Robotics offers. Thry support multiple coding languages (including vex blocks, which is visual iirc), have a very wide selection of modular mechanical components, and I can vouch for their quality. They even run competition events to solve game problems using their robots.
Something to keep in mind with VEX is that they just split with the organization that runs all of their competitions, so there’s likely changes coming soon. Also, the company itself has had some… Culture issues, so I personally try to avoid using their products where possible.
That’s good, I did come across these guys but wasn’t sure about the quality. If you’ve used it before though, what do you like about the quality? Is it that everything feels solid or that the software isn’t buggy, etc?
Just trying to get a feel for the product before/if I buy.
Thanks!
If you want to see what vex kits are capable of, look into the competitions they host. Each year student teams get games they must complete using a robot they design themselves.
Cool, will do.
I haven’t dealt with their software, but with the stuff I see people able to build, I know it has to be good. Its been in use for over a decade so they’ve had a lot of development time to get things right.
What i like most is their whole kit ecosystem- it’s very Lego-esque in how parts all have standard connectors and spacing so that if you sort of “think” that two parts fit together- it’s almost guaranteed they will. Especially with exp and v5, which are metal-girder components rather than plastic, but the plastic kits are good too.
Nice! I didn’t know they’ve been around that long. I was looking at the Vex Go education kit.
https://www.vexrobotics.com/go-kits.html
That seems about right for his age group and the kit will let me build my own alongside him.
Good luck! It’ll be worth it!
esp32
I have a kit very similar to this sunfounder picar I built a couple years back, maybe something like this? You’ll need a raspberry pi for it, but no soldering or anything like that is necessary.
It does support AI, though I’ve only used the OpenCV abstractions - it’s up to you how much you want to integrate. The motors and sensors are adequate, it has no problems moving under its own force. The included test tools use a web interface, you can build additional functions on those for “desktop” support. And it supports Python or Scratch but I’ve never personally tried the scratch side of things.
Edit - I found an article that goes into more detail around building and programming experience of this specific model.
Awesome, thank you. I’ll look into this one. I don’t think I came across it in my prior research. Thank you for the article too.
Get an adruino kit, one that comes with a bunch of different stuff along with the arduino. There’s tons that are cheap and come with various motors, servos, relays, and other stuff like ultrasonic distance sensors. That’s really the next step out of plug and play Legos and into real robotics. And just start with real code, that’s fundamental knowledge of how things work. Its like saying I’ll just give him a calculator then teach him multiplication later.
